Bernard Schoenburg: Candidate regrets stupid stuff’ in past

Friday

Sep 16, 2011 at 12:01 AMSep 16, 2011 at 1:22 PM

SAM SPRADLIN, a 46-year-old Springfield truck driver who is circulating petitions to run for the Republican nomination to the U.S. House in the new 13th Congressional District, has five felony counts of forgery on his record dating back to when he was 18.

SAM SPRADLIN, a 46-year-old Springfield truck driver who is circulating petitions to run for the Republican nomination to the U.S. House in the new 13th Congressional District, has five felony counts of forgery on his record dating back to when he was 18.

Court records show that Spradlin took out bank accounts in someone else’s name and wrote checks on those accounts. The five checks yielding the charges included one to an auto service center, three to stores and one to a bank. The largest was $200, and the total was $540.

He wrote and signed a statement at the time saying he was “deeply in debt” when he came out of the service in 1983, and that he talked to a minister about it and wanted to confess but was scared of violence from people close to the person whose name he had used.

“I am very sorry and want to repay this as soon as it is possible,” the statement given to police states.

Spradlin told me he had joined the Army but got pneumonia and had a history of asthma, so he was medically discharged.

He said he was unemployed at the time, but also told me that while his statement was coached by a detective, opening the accounts “wasn’t even about money.” Instead, he said he targeted the person whose name he used for what Spradlin characterized as the bad way that person had treated people in high school in Williamsville.

“I had a run-in with him just before this,” Spradlin said, saying he thought the person “really needed to be taken down a few notches.”

“I equate that with a kid computer hacking today,” he said, and he “didn’t really realize the full extent” of his actions.

“There is not enough I can say to apologize for it,” he said.

He said he was given probation, and paid back the money.

Spradlin had thought he had records of the case expunged, but the case number appeared on the Sangamon County circuit clerk’s website, and microfilm of the case was available when I asked. The 1994 application for expungement was part of that record — filed by then-Circuit Clerk CARL OBLINGER — but it was not signed by a judge. Current Circuit Clerk TONY LIBRI said several steps must be taken to expunge a record, and files at the county don’t reflect such steps.

Spradlin also has been through what he agreed could be called a messy divorce, but said he has been happily remarried for a decade. And he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol in 2008. He said it was St. Patrick’s Day weekend, so police were on the lookout, and he had some drinks over time, including “a really, really big mug of beer” just before he left a restaurant at White Oaks Mall. He said police recorded a blood-alcohol level just above 0.10, but the DUI was ultimately dropped and he pleaded guilty to a stop-sign violation.

“My life fits into the normal-guy category,” said Spradlin, who plans to continue seeking the congressional seat. He said he’s become “a good, productive member of society,” and he hopes people look at “what my future is, not what my past was.”

Also seeking the GOP nomination in the new 13th, which includes part of Springfield, is U.S. Rep. TIM JOHNSON, R-Urbana.

Johnson on civility show
Johnson, meanwhile, is one of two U.S. House members among people on a televised panel discussion taped recently at Howard University in Washington, D.C., on the theme of “Getting to Common Ground and Greater Good.”

The 30-minute show will be on at 10:30 a.m. today on WRSP, Fox 55 in Springfield, one of several stations around the country where it is being shown. The time is purchased by the sponsoring group, which is something called Purple America, an outgrowth of Cleveland-based Project Love, Remember the Children Foundation, which does training sessions for students and educators to “build a culture of kindness, caring and respect” in schools.

STUART MUSZYNSKI of the Cleveland suburb of Lyndhurst, is CEO of Purple America and Project Love, and said beyond anti-bullying and similar messages for schools, he’s trying to reach a larger audience to push civility based on common values he and family members distilled from interviewing people across the country. Johnson and the other congressman on the show, U.S. Rep. EMANUEL CLEAVER, D-Mo., have each taken a pledge to practice the 12 values — equality, family, faith, freedom, love and respect, self-expression, community, giving back, the good life, opportunity, success, and doing the right thing — and Muszynski hopes all members of Congress will follow. The show is part of a “Re-Imagine America” campaign to foster civility.

Johnson is co-chair of the House’s Center Aisle Caucus, and Cleaver chairs the House Civility Caucus. The National Education Association, which has developed a curriculum it offers its members on the civility theme, is helping sponsor the TV shows, Muszynski said.

“They view their teachers as being nation builders,” he said.

Scherer running in new 96th
Add SUE SCHERER of Decatur, a first-grade teacher at Maroa-Forsyth Elementary School, to candidates running for the Democratic nomination in the new 96th House District, which includes Springfield’s medical district and east side and Decatur.

Among her four children are a married daughter, SARA MEEK, who lives in Springfield, and a 21-year-old son, TYLER, a student at the University of Illinois Springfield.

“I’m just a regular person,” Scherer said. “I’m not a career politician. I’ve always liked public service.”

As a state representative, she said, “I think I can help a lot of people,” and she’s excited about the coming race. She’s planning formal announcements soon.

Already announced in the 96th is WINSTON TAYLOR, who just left a job as a legislative liaison with the state Environmental Protection Agency in Springfield to make the race. Sangamon County Board member CHRIS BOYSTER has been exploring a run, and Springfield Ward 5 Ald. SAM CAHNMAN is another possible candidate.

Bernard Schoenburg is political columnist for The State Journal-Register. He can be reached at 788-1540 or bernard.schoenburg@sj-r.com.

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